Columbus woman was trying to ‘protect her family’ when she was killed at NYE party

Less than 30 minutes after the ball dropped in Columbus, a 63-year-old woman who spent the first few moments of 2018 hugging her family and friends was killed during a New Year’s Eve party.

“He watched me grow up,” Raven White said before breaking down in tears about the death of Nancy Johnson. “For him to do that to my auntie and shoot her down like a dog, it wasn’t right.”

White said she was at the party with about 20 of her friends and family members, including children, when 65-year-old Tommy McNeal tried to join. He had a been a friend to the family for more than 25 years, but Johnson wouldn’t allow him to enter the home.

White said he appeared to be intoxicated.

“She was really trying to protect her family,” White said.

White said McNeal left and returned a second time but was again told to leave. She said he came back a third time and Johnson told him once again that he wasn’t allowed inside.

White said McNeal got upset and shots were fired through the door, striking Johnson. Her daughter was shot when she went outside to confront him, White told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Johnson was pronounced dead about an hour later at Midtown Medical Center, said Muscogee County Deputy Coroner Charles Newton. Her daughter was treated and released.

Annie Robinson, the victim’s niece, said the family had some issues with McNeal in the past, but he had been hanging around them for the last few years with no problems.

“The whole situation was so senseless,” said White, who remembers hugging her aunt minutes before the shooting. “That’s what makes this so hard, because we knew him for so long.”

Columbus Police Maj. JD Hawk said authorities responded to the 2700 of Lumpkin Court around 4 p.m. Wednesday after someone notified them that McNeal was inside a home on Kendrick Avenue armed with a gun.

At the time, McNeal was wanted on outstanding warrants. A SWAT assisted police on the scene.

“A SWAT team was used because Mr. McNeal has a history of violence and in fact has gone to prison for killing a police officer back in 1975,” Hawk said.

The negotiator convinced McNeal to come outside of the home. The suspect, who wasn’t armed, was taken to the Muscogee County Jail without further incident.

“He obeyed all commands and came out,” Hawk said. “Nobody was harmed in the situation.”

White and Robinson are still struggling to figure out why anyone would want to kill such a caring woman. She was one of 11 children and a mother to five children.

“If you wanted to laugh and have fun, she’s that auntie,” Robinson said. “She’s crazy. She’d have you laughing.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Columbus woman was trying to ‘protect her family’ when she was killed at NYE party."